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Reflections on ‘Hallelujah’

Jonathan Chan & Sng Li-Hwei
11 hours ago
4 min read

Hallelujah in Scripture 

Hallelujah – the word brings to mind rejoicing and relief. It may be the first word uttered when we find something precious that we’ve lost, or when a password we desperately key into the phone works, or when the team we’re supporting wins a championship trophy.


The word is derived from two in Hebrew:  הַלְּלוּ Hallelu, meaning ‘Praise ye’;  and  יָהּ Yah, the shortened term for ‘Yahweh’. It is found 28 times in the Bible, 24 times in the Psalms and 4 times in the book of Revelation, in each instance praising God for who He is and what He has done for His people. It was its mention in Revelation that inspired the great 18th-century oratorio of German-British composer George Frideric Handel, Messiah:


Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out, ‘Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns’ - Revelation 19:6 (ESV)


On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords. - Revelation 19:16 (ESV)


Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, ”The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever” - Revelation 11:15 (ESV)


Each verse inspires a grandeur of the imagination, a sense of the profound and all-encompassing, the earth and the cosmos all bearing witness in worship and devotion to the majesty of God. They are images of celebration and submission in awe to the Lord at the end of history.




The Composer

George Frideric Handel was born in 1685 in Halle, Germany to Georg Handel and Dorothea Taust. His father was a barber-surgeon while his mother was the daughter of a Lutheran pastor. Being an important centre in trade and Christian religion in the 17th century, Halle was flourishing and attractive to many musicians and artists, though particularly to the city’s higher strata.


Handel would win the attention of Duke Johann Adolf I, who would become his benefactor, upon hearing his playing of the court organ in the palace of the chapel of the Holy Trinity in Weissenfels, between the ages of seven and nine.


It was this gift in music, perhaps natural or divine, that resulted in his tutelage under a young organist at the Halle parish church, Friedrich Wilhelm Zachow. He introduced Handel to the vast scope of German and Italian Baroque music and composition.


In 1697, Handel’s father died, shortly before his 12th birthday. In 1702, to fulfil a promise, he would go on to matriculate at the University of Halle, where he would compose music for the church. He would move from Germany to Italy in 1706 before arriving in London in 1712, where he would work as a house composer at the stately home Cannons in Middlesex, compose anthems for the coronation of King George II in 1727, and compose operas at Covent Garden Theatre between 1734 and 1741. 


Life Interrupted

In 1737 at the age of 52, Handel suffered a mild stroke, or rheumatic palsy, which would cause temporary paralysis in his right hand and arm. He suffered a relapse later that year. After recovering, Handel would continue his work in composition, attentive to the shift in interest from Italian operas to English-language oratorios.


In 1741, Charles Jennens, a librettist, sent him a new libretto for an oratorio, using a compilation of extracts from the Authorised (King James) Version of the Bible, and from the Psalms included in the 1662 Book of Common Prayer.


What would ensue has sometimes been described as the fervour of divine inspiration. Handel would complete his composition of the music within 24 days. He declared that he “saw all heaven before him” as he composed and at the end of the manuscript, would write the letters ‘SDG’ – Soli Deo Gloria.


Glorifying Christ

Messiah tells the story of our Lord Jesus Christ in 3 parts, through 53 movements:

  • Part 1 – God’s plan to redeem mankind, as foretold by prophecies in Isaiah. It also speaks of the Messiah, God’s Son Jesus Christ; and of the virgin birth 

  • Part 2 – The Passion (the death and resurrection of Christ), ending with the “Hallelujah Chorus”

  • Part 3 – The Resurrection, glorification of Christ, and eternal life 


Messiah was first presented in Dublin in 1942 in a charity for prisoners' debt relief and hospitals. Subsequently, Messiah was bequeathed by Handel to raise funds for his charity, the Foundling Hospital, which served orphans and abandoned children.


It would go on to be performed increasingly at festivals and cathedrals across England, then Europe in the 18th century and 19th centuries. It remains Handel’s best-known work and has become an Advent tradition, with audiences rising to their feet to the ‘Hallelujah’, sung by large, mass choirs in contemporary performances. It has been remastered into many formats and versions through the decades, such as Handel's Messiah: A Soulful Celebration (1992), a reimagining of Messiah through African American music styles.



On 13 September 2026, members from CCMC’s choirs will come together to sing a version of ‘Hallelujah Chorus’, arranged by Larry Pugh, at the 32nd Church Anniversary Service. In recent months, the choirs have learnt and declared their confident faith in Jesus: He is our Good Shepherd, the Light of the world, the Bread of life, the Resurrection and the life. Indeed, it is a privilege and joy for us to join with all Heaven in declaring Christ’s victory over life and death, forever and ever.


Hallelujah!


For the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.


The kingdom of this world is become the kingdom of our Lord, and of His Christ.


And He shall reign forever and ever.


King of kings and Lord of lords!


Forever and ever, Hallelujah!



To find out more about our Gospel Choir



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